Akatsuki Brothers
by Sumei1
Summary: [AU. What If] Obito was and is a good and loyal friend. Surly he couldn't be blamed when he wanted his friend to have a part in the fun too, right? When Rin dies, Obito, instead of leaving Kakashi for Konoha, takes Kakashi along for the ride. Disclaimer: All characters and ideas from 'Naruto' belong to Kishimoto, not me. ON INDEFINITE HIATUS
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

Obito walked through the marshy grass, mud squelching between his uncut toes (clearly Madara had not made them top priority). Grime covered his pale skin, which had not seen the light of day for months. But the mud wasn't bothering him. Obito was oblivious to the slopping mud and whatever else was mixed into the cold dark brown earth. He was numb to everything, except for the harsh painful hurt he could feel in his chest.

After the red hazy fog of rage had left his mind, Obito could finally recall what had happened. He'd slaughtered all the Kiri-nin with the new mukton ninjutsu he'd somehow unlocked (who knew what Madara had done to him? That crazy old coot. Obito had been sure that only the first Hokage had the kekkai genkai, but what did _he _know about history?) after finding out about . . . it.

Obito had seen some of it, through his sharingan. Rin. Rin. Rin. No—Obito had _known _surly it couldn't have been, right? There was no she was dead—_a white glowing mass of chakra_—This was Rin—_Giant gaping hole sitting right above her belly-button, an arm going right through to the elbow_—Sweet unbeatable Rin the medic-nin who treated Obito's cuts and bruises—_Eyes wide open in shock but at the same time behind the surprise there was—_His comrade whom he'd promised not to let die—_Acceptance. Joy even. Joy at being set free_—His best friend—His crush, even now—_Her whispering as death creeps up upon her_—He'd promised that she _wouldn't _**die**!—_"K-Kakashi_."

Obito had rushed over to the place, with the help of GuruGuru encasing him. Despite it being the first time the white Zetsu had encased him and allowed him full mobility, it felt surprisingly light-weight, and Obito had been able to move unhindered, and with more power than before behind his movements thanks to GuruGuru's strength.

Now fully aware of his senses, Obito stared in awe and slight disgust at the bloodied marsh that spread out from above him. (Don't get him wrong) he definitely knew the shinobi had deserved it, but how had _he _done that? He, the so-called 'failure' of the Uchiha had destroyed a whole troop of Kiri-nin, most of them chunin and jounin. Adrenaline rush oozing away, Obito could now feel a rip in a shoulder—a pulled muscle perhaps—and had a feeling it was going to bruise later on.

He somehow managed to trudge through the flattened undergrowth, making haste over to Rin.

He ran forward, blood, stale water, and goo splashing on GuruGuru's shell as he raced towards his goal—Rin's corpse. He didn't care how it had happened—it had happened and now the light from his world was dying. Obito stared up at the pale moon that taunted him from above. How _dare_ the moon keep shining after what had happened?!

Rin was dead. The world was _dead. _Everyone on this miserable chunk of rock could be dead for all Obito cared! Rin was the sun, _Obito's _very own light, and now she was gone, the world's colors had faded to bleak shades of grey.

"_You promised you would keep watching me! You promised you'd be there to help me!_" Obito screamed to the empty air. Because no one was going to answer. Not Rin, not Minato, not anyone. Obito felt more alone than ever.

GuruGuru, sensing his foul mood, stopped making jokes to him, leaving Obito to continue trying to gather his scrambled thoughts. He hadn't even felt this ruffled and distraught when he'd messed up on a field mission, which had almost ended with Rin nearly getting her arm chopped up. She'd reassured him it was fine, weeks after the mission had been completed, but Obito still couldn't help but wonder if she had ever really been mad at him, yet hid her true feelings from him.

From what he could remember, he'd killed all the Kiri-nin. Made them pay. They hadn't expected such a fight out of a person half their height. But no matter how satisfying it had been to feel their forms crumpled underneath his fists that didn't change what had happened. Rin was still dead. And with her, another part of Obito's heart had shattered.

Obito hadn't known his parents, and team Minato had been the family he'd never had. The Uchiha clan disliked him (to say the least) and deemed him useless after it seemed he had failed to have been passed on the Uchiha sharingan. Minato had been like a father, despite seemed to slightly favor Kakashi more in arguments. Then Kakashi—the brother he'd never had. (Obito couldn't help but think of the child-prodigy Itachi, and how Fugaku (the Clan head who just happened to have disliking of Obito) and Mikoto (Obito's mother figure who might be one of the only Uchihas who actually liked Obito) were expecting another child. Despite not really liking him, Fugaku and Mikoto would be good parents, and the child would have an amazing brother in Itachi. Obito sighed wistfully at those thoughts). And then Rin, sweet, sweet Rin.

Obito would've called Rin his sister, but he loved her too much for that. A mere 'sister' tag slapped onto Rin wouldn't do. She was too magnificent and beautiful to just be a sister.

The cold touch of skin with his toe notified Obito that he had reached his destination. Shaking himself out of his mind, Obito look down and saw her. Floating slightly in a pool of blood—Kiri-nins' and hers—Rin's wide open brown eyes looked up at Obito accusingly, as if asking: _why were you late this time, Obito? The one time you had to be on time. . . ._

Her brown hair looked black, or even maroon, thanks to the blood soaking in her hair. Lying to rot in a pool of the liquid, with only maggots for company was a too cruel of a death for his Rin.

Obito picked her up gingerly, and hugged her, careful to avoid touching the gaping hole in her chest. Charred ends of her intestines dripped slightly out, and her whole torso smelled of charred flesh. Was the world really so cold to do this to Rin? To do this to _him_?

_Madara is right. _

_This world. . . ._

_This place. . . ._

_It is all corrupt._

_It must end._

_For the eternal solution._

_For the ultimate peace._

_For _Rin_._

"I won't forget you Rin." Obito muttered into Rin's blood-matted hair. By now, he could only feel blood. It was under his clothes, icy cold to his skin. It was in in his hair. Under his nails, digging into their beds. Smears made tracks all over his body. "I won't forget you!" He shouted louder.

He glanced to the side at another part of his family. Obito looked at Kakashi, his silver mop of hair, no longer looking so silver, it too taking on the red theme of the marsh. Did he dare to hope? Leaning forward, Obito placed his hand on Kakashi's chest. The faintest throb was felt. Obito knew it was risky—it was unlikely Kakashi would survive, and if he did, did he really want to see Kakashi anymore? Wouldn't it spare his old friend pain if he never knew that Obito had survived? Anyways, Minato and the others would come for Kakashi eventually. . . .

_Minato_.

His father, his teacher, his friend.

Obito's hands tightened into fists.

No. When Obito himself had 'died' Minato hadn't been there in time.

Kakashi had lost an eye because Minato hadn't been there on time.

When Rin died, Minato didn't come in time.

How could he trust Minato with the last part of Obito's family?

Minato had let him down one too many times, and Obito wasn't going to let Kakashi die if he could help it.

After burying Rin and covering her grave with every wildflower to be found in the battle-torn marsh, Obito came back to Kakashi's unconscious form. "Come on Kakashi!" Obito muttered, and he ran off with chakra powering his steps. He bounded through the marsh, blood splashing in his footsteps.

Madara had told him the outlines of the Eye-of-the-Moon plan, but the grumpy old Uchiha hadn't said anything about Obito not being able to have friends. After all, had the old coot seen Kakashi, he would've probably said he was more capable than Obito himself.

The first thing Obito would concern himself with was getting Kakashi a medic. The fact that Obito had found Kakashi lying in a pool of blood was probably not the best thing for his friend's health.

"Come on Kakashi! Don't fail on me now baka!"


	2. 1: First Steps

**Chapter 1**

Kakashi opened his one eye, a pounding sensation throbbing behind his eyes. A soft groan escaped his mouth involuntarily. It was at that moment, the silver-haired teen realized that his face was cold and uncovered.

Running his fingers over his uncovered face, Kakashi looked around the area. Upon glancing down at his hand, Kakashi could see dark, crusted blood under his fingernails. Someone had scrubbed off the majority of it away, but it dug into his nail's beds relentlessly, bothering him to no end.

The room (if the cave-like room could be called a proper room) was dark and lit by small lamps. The air had a musty and damp quality to it, and Kakashi could feel the dust invading his nose without the mask protecting him. Some medical supplies were packed to the side of the room, on a shabby little table of sorts. Little over-the-counter pills were there, as well as chakra pills and blood replenishers.

Feeling the coarse material of the black shirt Kakashi was wearing, he realized that it wasn't _his _shirt. Not his one with the mask stitched in—this one reminded him of civilians' shirts. He snorted in disgust and stood up, only to sit back down hard as a fiery pain engulfed his leg as Kakashi tried putting weight onto it.

"Hey, Kakashi, don't walk around okay? I couldn't really find a medic, so the whole thing was kinda icky. I think you may have pulled a muscle in your leg," A voice from the shadows called. As a shinobi, Kakashi's mind screamed to be cautious, but the human part of Kakashi told him to respond.

So he did.

"Did you help me?" Kakashi asked, unsure of what to say. As the burning in his leg lessened, he decided it was okay to continue. "Hey, what happened? Um, you see—I think some shinobi from my village would come. . . . and Rin, she's a good medic. . . . We could get her to come heal me. . . ." His voice trailed off as the voice made to speak again.

The small voice in the back of Kakashi's head was screaming he was being _way _too open to someone as a shinobi, but another thing in his mind said it was alright. Something about the voice just reminded him about his long peaceful chats at the memorial stone. It was almost . . . nice.

"You don't remember do you?" It asked quietly.

"Remember what? What do you mean? Why hasn't Konoha shinobi tried to find me? What about _Rin_?!" Kakashi felt himself growing more and more agitated, uncontrollable emotions swelling up. He felt unusually exhausted, and that left no energy for suppressing the waves of panic his brain was sending to him.

"Kakashi—"

"Show me your face! How am I supposed to believe your words if I can't see yo—" Kakashi's voice died into a squeak as the voice's owner complied with his wishes. "O-Obito?" His voice cracked in shock. The eye resting in his left eye socket started to itch, and he couldn't help but double check his vision.

Yet, it had to be. Despite the wrinkled and marred right half of the teen's face, it was definitely Obito, or at least an Uchiha, if the sharingan in the boy's right eye was anything to go by. And the voice was something like the one Kakashi would conjure up when he was talking to the memorial stone. Him and Obito. Like old times (though that really long hair cut would have to go, Kakashi decided).

"Baka-shi. Yo." Obito smiled, and his face split in a smile. That stupid, irritating smile that used to piss Kakashi off to no end (of course he'd never admitted it). Yes—it had to be Obito.

"Hey Obito, do you mind if I take this arm?" A voice asked innocently from the shadows.

Kakashi's relaxed form stiffened up again, tensed muscles releasing more pain from his leg. Biting down a whimper, he squinted towards the voice's source. "What was that?"

"Hmm? Oh, that? That was GuruGuru—come out Guru! Also, yeah, I don't need that arm, feel free to have it," Obito nodded nonchalantly, as if he was just lending a ryo to a friend, not a human body part (was it even? Kakashi peered at the mangled limb suspiciously).

A strange humanoid figure walked up, white pasty skin covering in a swirl pattern. Yellow lamp-like eyes stared down at Kakashi. "Hi-yah!" He chirped, which would've been an amazing start to Kakashi and GuruGuru's friendship, except for the bloodied hand in his hand. Following Kakashi's uncertain gaze, GuruGuru lifted the hand easily. "This, you see Mister, is very rich in fiber and nutrients, and is very good for plants."

"Plants? But you're a—"

Obito elbowed him, "He gets a bit sensitive about being part-plant. Don't push it."

Kakashi looked at him in disbelief, "Fine. . . ." Shaking his head again, Kakashi sighed and looked at Obito, surprise still ringing in his ears. "Wait, so tell me what happened? You said Rin—"

Obito immediately sobered up, and even GuruGuru shuffled back into the shadows (to do whatever plant thing he did with human limbs) to give them privacy. Obito stared at Kakashi with a mixed expression. "I don't really know how to explain it. Even . . . I can't explain it. . . I _don't _want to be able to explain it. . . ."

"Then don't. Tell me later." Kakashi shook his head tiredly. "Tell me about how you survived then."

"What? Oh, me . . . ." Obito paused, unsure of how to explain ("Oh yes, this crazy old man who claimed to Madara Uchiha just happened to find my body and revived me somehow, and he was powering his life with a super-powerful statue, and now he passed his plans onto me and I'm going to destroy the world to make a better one where Rin is still alive—oh yes, did I mention Rin's dead?—well, she is, and I was wondering if you'd like to help!").

"It's complicated," Obito said in a guarded tone.

"Well, thanks for . . . doing whatever you did," Kakashi said uncertainly, staring at the blood on his fingers. The grainy texture of the maroon blood was bothering him, itching on his skin. He was _sure _he remembered _something_. What had happened? Why couldn't he recall—

A small dark grayish spider crawled along the cave wall. As the fire's light gleamed off the spider's hairy body, a velvety purple shone out. _Purple. Purple. _Rin had purple patches on her cheeks. _Purple. _Rin._Purple. Rin. Purple. Rin. Rin. _Rin.

"Argh!" Kakashi bent down, pain blasting through his nerve system, starting at his left eye—his sharingan. Hoping to relinquish the undeniable itch in his eye, Kakashi ripped off the homemade bandage over it and the eye forced itself open, blood red iris shining out at the world.

Obito grunted as his already open sharingan started sucking up large amounts of chakra. Sure the little thing had always taken more chakra than your average eye, but this was _much _more than usual. Obito staggered from the sudden depletion and Kakashi groaned again, shaking limbs trying to get ahold of something solid.

Looking into each other's faces, the two watched, mesmerized, as the three tomoe of the sharingan started to stretch and grow, until they spread into a spherical pattern that warped in on itself. Soon the transformation was finished, and their eyes shone, identical mangyeko sharingan patterns.

"What is this?" Kakashi asked breathlessly; sweat chilling him in the cold underground air. Hair hanging down damp, he stared intrigued at the glowing sharingan in Obito's right eye socket.

Obito stared so closely at Kakashi's eye that he couldn't help feeling a bit awkward. "I don't know. . . . I've never seen it before. Wait—" Obito sucked in sharply.

_The Kiri-nin. Rin. Dead. Blood. Wood. Spike. Kill. Kill them all. Make them pay. Kakashi. On the ground. Bury Rin. Blood. Mud. Dirt. Ground. Flowers. Kill. Kiri-nin. Kill. Rin._

"The—back in the field," Obito gasped. "I remember now! The eye felt like how it is now. I think that was partially why civilian medics didn't want us—the eye kinda scared them."

"What do you _mean_?!" Kakashi growled, partially irritated, but mostly from the way Obito seemed to be hesitating to tell him the answer.

Obito stared at him, slightly in disbelief, "You seriously can't tell?"

Rolling his eyes, Kakashi could almost forget that they were in a slimy old cave with barely any light. He could almost ignore the dirt and grim grating against his skin under his clothes. He could almost feel like this was before Obito had 'died' and they were just two bickering children on Team Minato. Almost.

"Well, I'm sorry but I wasn't born surrounded by red-eyed weirdoes!" Kakashi snapped.

Obito groaned, "It's called the Mangyeko Sharingan. It's like a rarer more advanced version of the sharingan. I don't understand much about it." He pondered it quietly in his mind. _Madara didn't mention it—or maybe I was just knocked out? I did tend to do quite a bit of that. . . ._

"Well . . . should we give it a go?" Kakashi asked hesitantly.

Obito nearly did a double-take. _This _was Hatake Kakashi—the boy who was stiffer than a board at times, yet here he was, suggesting to do something more reckless than anything the boy had ever done before. _Maybe Rin affected him more than he knows . . . _Obito thought, a vine of guilt creeping up on him.

"Do you even know how to work it?" Obito leaned against the wall. "And if anyone's doing it, _I _am. Your chakra still isn't very stable." Flashing a glance at the Hatake again with his sharingan, Obito confirmed that the weakly pulsing blue tracks in Kakashi's body were his chakra coils.

"Oi! I can do it—" Kakashi bit down a curse as a wave of pain rolled in from his muscles as he tried to stand up.

Obito lifted an eyebrow at him and after wiping off a layer of sweat Kakashi reluctantly nodded. "Fine," He growled, a slight pout turning down the corner of his mouth.

_Mouth. Pout. Mouth._

Obito froze and relooked over Kakashi's face. Kakashi's _face_. Kakashi looked at him oddly as Obito ogled his face in shock.

_After all this time without him showing us his face, you'd think he'd actually have an ugly one_. Obito was suddenly very happy that he got rid of all of the shirts Kakashi had had that had a mask attached to them (sure, before it was because they were all drenched in blood, but now the decision was all the more sweeter). _Now if only Rin could see. . . . _Obito's inner cackling instantly ceased. _Rin._

"What? Obito?" The confusion on Kakashi's face was so shockingly obvious with having a whole face to look at. The silver-haired teen awkwardly slapped aside Obito's hands that were trying to touch his face as if to see if it was really there. "Stop it!"

"Your . . . face . . . .?" Obito said as if that cleared up everything.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, "And . . . what? Did you think I had a void where my mouth was or something?" He acted like it was such an ordinary thing Obito felt like an idiot (making Obito feel like such seemed to be Kakashi's talent). But still: _Kakashi's face_! Screw the Mangyeko Sharingan for later, right in front of him was _Kakashi's face_.

"Possibly. . . . But why'd you never show you face to us?" Obito demanded.

Looking to the side hesitantly, Kakashi stared at the wall, "Did anyone ever tell you about my father?"

Obito exhaled slowly, "White Fang?" Taking Kakashi's sharp intake of breath as a yes, he continued. "Yeah. . . . Minato-sensei told me. . . ."

Kakashi's fists clenched, hurt laced in his voice. "He told you? _Why_? He knew how much that meant to me . . . ."

"Kakashi, it's okay—I don't judge you—"

"Shut up!" Obito was shocked to see the faintest glimmer of tears in Kakashi's mismatched eyes. "You don't understand. . . ." His voiced faded in the end, because both he and Obito knew that Obito _did_understand.

Obito had always been teased by his family members since he hadn't "met their expectations" as an Uchiha.

He was almost disowned by the clan chief Fugaku a rather horrifying mistake Obito had done.

People had thought of him as a nuisance, only a prank-causing rat that would easily be exterminated and not missed.

"It's all right—" Obito started, only stopping when real tears started pouring down Kakashi's face. _What is this? I've never seen him laugh before, much less cry._

"No it's not. Obito . . . do you know what I said to him?" Kakashi's chin quivered. "I told him I hated him. That night he commited seppeku." He spoke quietly.

Slamming his bandaged fist to the stone ground Kakashi screamed out a curse. "He didn't deserve that! Obito, he didn't earn that from the others or his own son! What sort of person am I? I treated him awful—I was his _son _and I treated him like trash!"

Obito shivered, _how do you comfort people? Helping old people with groceries was so much easier. Rin would know what to do . . . ._

Obito spoke hesitantly. "I- um, Kakashi. . . . It was okay, I didn't treat you all too nicely either, did I?"

"At least you treated your comrades well! '_Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum_' right? I left you and Rin back then, and then you 'died' for it. I don't care if it was for real or not. You died a hero, Obito. If I had died that day, I would have died scum."

Obito shivered and suddenly realized why this conversation was rattling him so much: he had just learned a little more in this conversation that Hatake Kakashi was human too.

Finally, after Kakashi collapsed from exhaustion, Obito while reflecting upon the day realized that Kakashi had never told him why he wore his mask, and Obito had never told Kakashi about how Rin was dead.

Obito was so not looking forward to telling Kakashi about it.


	3. 2: Recovering

**Chapter 2**

Kakashi's shoulder slammed into the ground and he mumbled a curse.

Obito hurried forward, offering his hand to Kakashi. "Thanks," Kakashi muttered.

Obito's one red eye widened and he stared at Kakashi's monotone onyx eye. After their original mangyeko run-in they had decided on letting Kakashi cover up his sharingan to conserve chakra and prevent the same accident from occurring. But Kakashi's eye gave no sign of his emotion, a blank slate just as the other three-quarters of his face.

An odd shiver ran up Obito's back. He still wasn't used to the silver-haired teen from actually saying thanks and sorry. It was like kicking a tree (something Obito did surprisingly often) and hearing it say 'ow' in response.

"Sorry I threw you hard," Obito spoke apologetically, holding out his hand. Kakashi took it and heaved himself up.

The chunin shook hair out of his face, "No it's alright. Go hard on me—I've been relaxing too much lately." Kakashi glanced around at the cavern. "Where did you say this was again?"

Obito looked around and recalled what Madara had said. "It's between Takigakure and Otogakure on the border of Konohagakure." Obito himself was surprised that he remembered it (nothing like having half of your body being crushed beyond repaired to improve memory).

The Uchiha noticed Kakashi stiffen at the name of their home. "Kakashi?" Concern laced his tone and Kakashi flinched at it.

"Nothing," Kakashi spoke abruptly, massaging his shoulder. "Let's continue."

No matter what had happened before, Kakashi still distanced himself. It didn't matter that Obito had saved his life multiple times, Kakashi would still hold him at arm's length. Obito sighed, some people just needed time. But a worm of worry curled inside of him—ever since Obito had hesitantly revealed Rin's death, Kakashi had just uttered a soft '_oh_' and closed in on himself.

He still remembered the sharp sense of worry when Kakashi had glared at him that sunset-lit day at the park. Obito hadn't realized that Sakumo had just committed seppuku. He hadn't realized how much hurt that had been nestling inside his silver-haired teammate until it had been too late. His eyes had been like black ice.

Swallowing his doubts, Obito let his eyes drift away from the chunin. "Okay let's continue," Obito stood up and faced Kakashi. "Ready, start!" His muscles loosened and he shifted to a ready position.

They rushed to each other, grappling and aiming kicks and punches at each other. Despite Obito's former reputation, he was quite capable.

It was only in these sparring matches that Obito could see Kakashi opening up a little bit, coming out of his self-imposed shell. Not a lot, but Obito had finally learned some patience and he could wait. After all, Kakashi had waited a year.

_Slap_. Skin hitting together as punches flew from each side like angry bees darting from hives. Obito at first held back, unsure of how well Kakashi had recovered. But truly, the damage had been done inside his mind, not his body. This was why as soon as Obito felt the frustratingly close wisps of silver hair touch his knuckles with another missed punch; he threw caution out the window.

Kakashi dipped and weaved, dodging Obito's fists and kicks, almost making it look graceful.

Obito should have noticed. But just like all those times in the past, Obito remained painfully oblivious until the truth smacked him in the face.

Or rather, Kakashi's face.

The chunin's arms wavered once or twice after five minutes. Obito didn't notice and continued rushing aggressively forward with all the strength of a hyperactive fourteen year old. Obito was so intent on how Kakashi kept dodging his fists that he nearly didn't register the bone-snapping crunch as Obito's knuckles clashed with Kakashi's masked face.

Kakashi exhaled sharply as his back slammed into the dusty cave floor. His eyes were scrunched into an expression of pain.

"K-Kakashi!" Obito squeaked, voice going an octave higher. He looked down at his teammate anxiously. Obito recalled what he had been like when he first regained consciousness—he had ended up fainting multiple times from overexertion. It had only been two days since Kakashi had woken up (and his silver-haired teammate had always had rather horrid endurance—a fact that didn't help elevating Obito's relatively fragile state of mind as the 'nurse').

Obito peered over Kakashi, wondering what to do.

He felt his heart leap up his throat when Kakashi's hand darted out and poked his forehead. "What was that for?!" Obito demanded, more shocked than harmed.

Kakashi was giving him a sly grin, visible even through his mask. "I had you didn't I?" There was an undeniable feel of gloating attached to those words and Obito almost decided to bluff through it, and then chose otherwise.

Obito sighed in relief. "You did have me! That wasn't coo!" He groaned into his hand exaggeratedly. "Now if only Rin was here to side with me and tell you how stupid you . . . ." Obito's voice faded, joking light dimming from his eyes when he realized Kakashi wasn't smiling anymore.

_Rin_. Obito mentally chided his tactlessness. The dark stains still showed up on Kakashi's clothes—a painful reminder of what had happened (the visible stains were partially surprising because _everything _Kakashi wore was black, but then again, the boys were unexperienced in the arts of laundering).

"We need to go a village for supplies soon. I'll go out and try getting food." Kakashi called, strapping on his weapons pouch. "I'll be back later."

" Yeah. . . ." Obito replied softly to himself. There Kakashi went: back into his shell just like before. "What are we going to do Rin? . . . Madara?" Neither of them answered (even a snide comment like Kakashi would've been welcome).

The old man had acted so confident of his vision for the world and Obito knew he couldn't deny he wanted to see Rin again—preferably not as a corpse. But how was he going to do that, if he couldn't even talk casually with Kakashi? He could still remember the claims to Hokage he had made as a child.

"_How can I become Hokage if I can't even beat that guy?_" He had asked Rin.

Bile rose to his throat when he thought of her body rotting under the swamp, blood drying up into the earth as her body became a home for tunneling parasites and bugs that fed and dug through her decaying flesh until there were only bones. At least Obito had managed to give her a grave—he wouldn't be able to stand imagining Rin's body becoming a breeding ground for mosquitos as her body bloated up in the humid marsh sun, corpse becoming snacks for scavengers. Both options made him sick.

Obito stopped thinking about Rin because then his thoughts would grow to the foreshadowing image his sharingan had flashed to him: the cackling blue chakra sprouting from Kakashi's hand like a deadly flower, piercing Rin's chest. Because if his thought about that, he couldn't stop blinding feelings of rage and fear that bloomed inside of him: hate at Kakashi for killing Rin, hate at him for not being there in time, hate at Rin—because the last words she ever said were Kakashi's name. Hate at Rin because she had to go off dying. Hate at Rin because she had always chosen Kakashi and look where that had gotten her.

But most of all the everlasting fear—the fear of the burning cold rage that had nestled deep inside Obito's heart. Minato had always taught them of the importance of thinking and not giving into your emotions—especially to Obito. Naturally Kakashi had been excellent at throwing his feelings away. But Obito had never truly managed to master such self-control.

Even though Minato had let Rin die, there was a certain bond of warmth attached to Team Minato—something Madara had never given him. A bond, the Uchiha thought of Kakashi and Rin, he wasn't quite sure he was ready to sever.

Silence filled the cave, interrupted only by the crackling as fat oozed off the large grouse and hissed into the hot coals below. Wisps of steam curled off the red-hot coals, snowy-white ash blowing around in the heat.

Obito was half tempted to pretend to steal a bit of the grouse just to spark conversation, if not just to provoke an argument, but after seeing Kakashi's uninviting expression as he turned the grouse on the split, he decided against it.

Finally, as the last ember fizzled in the dying bed, Obito patted his stomach with satisfaction. "Not as good as Ichiraku's." He snipped in an imitation of Kakashi's expression (his stomach moaned at the thought of the hand-made noodles of the Ichiraku ramen).

"I'm going to bed." Kakashi stood up, kicking over the coals to make sure no stray sparks remained. "You can stay by if you want."

"Sure," Obito raised his hand for a high-five and put it down quickly as he got a whiff of his own body odor (not like it was his fault—the underground cave wasn't exactly a five star hotel): a rank stench covered with a piercing layer of soot from the fire having been made inside a cave with little ventilation. It wasn't like Kakashi would've actually high-fived back.

Using his finger and elongated and jagged fingernails (turned out kunai weren't the best nail clippers) he drew pictures in the dust until he was blinking ash out of his eyes with exhaustion. He yawned and rubbed ash out from under his yellow nail.

Careful to not wake his irritable roommate, Obito half stumbled, half crawled to the makeshift cots Obito and Kakashi had created for themselves using GuruGuru's leftover softened plant material.

"Keep an eye on things please Guru. . . ." Obito fell into unconsciousness as his bottom barely hit the 'bed'. The white swirl-decorated plant creature crawled down from the ceiling and stared at Obito's drawings. He gave a quiet chuckle, his stiffened face incapable of smiling.

When Obito woke, he saw Kakashi sitting down by the burnt out fire. The Uchiha first thought the silver-haired teen was meditating (a disturbingly common event in Kakashi's life to Obito) but instead he was looking at the drawings Obito had made: it was Kakashi, Obito, and in the middle—Rin.

Kakashi smiled sadly at Obito, "I didn't know you were an artist."

Obito protested, "N-not really! That was just—I-I was bored- um." He stopped when he realized Kakashi wasn't teasing him. Obito's stoic teammate single eye watered. "Kakashi?"

Kakashi rubbed his eye, tears darkening his mask.

But there was still humor in his voice, "Dust."


	4. ABS: Cloaks

**Akatsuki Brothers Shorts: _Cloaks_**

There is a teahouse in one of the outer villages around Amegakure. They didn't know it, but they were housing some of the most powerful shinobi in the age, and very possibly the ones that would be determining the future.

A red-haired man scrutinizes the pair in front of him. A cyan-haired woman sits calmly next to him, her chakra presence reassuring him. No one knows he's there, thanks to a well-placed genjutsu and sound barrier around their table (civilians wouldn't exactly be leaping with joy to see a red-haired man with chakra-poles sticking out his back).

"So. You wish to join the Akatsuki?" The man's voice is low and doubtful, "And you claim to be Uchiha Madara."

"Yes. You've had encounters with me before," The man says, and as if on cue, the single right eye hole in his mask flares red with a sharingan. The red-haired man's purple eyes widen a fraction.

"But who is your companion?" Uzumaki Nagato questions. The silver-haired teenager was a variable. Nagato knew nothing of him, yet surely he was strong enough to be accompanying 'Madara'?

"He is merely a friend," Madara shakes it off with a gloved hand. It's no big deal, it says.

The silver-haired teen tenses at the rinnegan's penetrating stare. His lower face is covered by a black mask and his left eye by a cloth tied around his head, almost like a hitai-ate without its metal plate. "Uchiha Madara and I have been acquaintances for a while and after . . . helping me he has accepted my offer to redeem his generosity." His voice is steady.

Nagato's rinnegan flares, "Oh?" He detects lies, but doesn't know where, and Konan squeezes his hand under the table, soothing his paranoia. Nagato wouldn't know what to do without her.

"The Akatsuki seek peace, are you willing to give it all for our goal?" He questions softly.

The pair nods. "Then tell me," Nagato frowns, "What are your real names?"

"I am Uchiha Madara." The man repeats.

"I have met that man once before. Tell me something that will show me that you are him." Nagato's scowl remains present.

After glancing at Madara, the silver-haired teen clears his throat. "The eye of the moon plan."

Nagato's rinnegan widens, but he makes no verbal response. Silently he is thankful for Konan's foresight in placing a sound barrier jutsu to ward off eavesdroppers. After consideration, he nods, "Very well, what do you want?"

"Well, first of all, we're going to have to change the robes." Madara speaks.

Nagato is caught off-guard. "O-our _clothes_?"

"Yeah, if we're going to have a nice strong organization, we need uniform, y'know? And that black _drab _cloak isn't cutting it okay?" Madara spoke with authority.

Seemingly realizing that this was how it was going to be like, Nagato sighs, "What are you going to change about it?" Konan stifles a giggle at her long-time teammate and friend's distress.

"Well, _I _was thinking something with clouds, what do you think?" He asks his silver-haired companion.

"I think there should be white outlining the clouds, so they pop," The teen suggests.

"But won't the clouds be white as well?" As Nagato speaks up, part of him wonders why he was getting so worked up about this (and also some of him wondered if he had finally lost it). It was just a cloak.

Madara looks at him like he really has gone insane (though it was hard to tell with a mask covering the entirety of his face, but Nagato swore he could sense disbelief), "No, they're going to be _red_." He says it like Nagato is the one spewing nonsense. "Now what _I'm _wondering about is what _shade _of red. I kinda want a darker shade, but who's going to want to hire us if it looks as if we have splotches of _blood _on our cloaks, right?"

"Then you better not be the one drawing the design for it," The silver-haired teen teases. Nagato blinks slowly and resists the urge to rub his eyes. This was not happening. Someone was _teasing_ Uchiha Madara—the man who had been _killed _(really the fact he was talking to a dead man should've set off the 'you're crazy' alarms in Nagato's mind) by the first Hokage decades ago.

Finally after many cups of tea, migraines (mostly Nagato's), and exasperated sighs (again, voiced mostly by Nagato) the design was complete.

"Well that was fun!" Madara says, "However, my friend and I must be leaving. I assume you have the bill?" Nagato makes to stand up, but Madara and his silver-haired partner disappear in a swirling ripple between space and time.

"They were interesting," Konan speaks first.

Nagato rubs his temples. "Interesting indeed." He shoves the design inside his 'drab' cloak.

"Are you going to really make them?" Konan asks as she places down the necessary coins to pay for their numerous cups of tea.

Nagato groans, "Well I don't think 'Madara' would be too pleased if I didn't."

"You know," Konan says as they walk out, supporting Nagato slightly with the metal chakra-poles hindering him. "I think it'll be good to work with them. They're different than what I expected."

"All I know is that _that _was not Uchiha Madara."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry guys for the late update (and not even an actual plot-based chapter)**

**Yep, this is a _filler _(if you can even have that in writing), basically a chapter that has no real importance to the story itself, but I just kinda wanted to write this. This is slightly different than what they're first meeting will be like in the actual fic, I just wanted to experiment with this sort of situation. I'm planning to do another short later on with the Akatsuki painting their nails (yay).**

**Next chapter will actually be with Kakashi and Obito**


	5. 3: Stumbling

**Chapter 3**

Uchiha Obito was woken by his teammate shaking him and repeating his name in his irritating, high pitched way (clearly, Obito thought amusedly, puberty had not hit while he had been away). In other words, receiving a wake-up call from Hatake Kakashi was not a pleasant one.

"What? If you need something go ask GuruGuru," Obito mumbled, flopping onto the hard 'mattress' (because sandy gravel and disintegrating cloth wasn't really a mattress—Madara hadn't really given them the highest tech) again.

"We're going shopping." Kakashi spoke, the words shocking Obito into opening his eyes. Imagining the silver-haired boy _willingly _shopping was . . . terrifying (in his mind, Inner-Obito protested that this was not what he had signed up for when picking up his teammate on that day). Obito knew shopping with his ill-tempered teammate was a task in itself (Minato had dragged his team off once to buy an outfit for a date with Kushina. Needless to say it hadn't ended well, with only Rin being the real help in the end) worthy of an A-rank.

"Wha-why?" Obito complained.

Kakashi's single eye bore into Obito. "Because I am _sick _of whatever plant thing GuruGuru somehow—I don't really want to know how—creates so we're getting food now. _Actual _real human food."

Obito sighed, "Fine. There should be a village nearby." Obito sent a sly glance towards Kakashi, "After all, I _understand_—only having greens ruins your complexion _right_?"

"Hey! That's not the reason—practically _my whole face _is covered you—!"

Kakashi's rant was broken by Obito cracked laugher. It had been awhile since he'd got to mess with his teammate and the Uchiha was glad to see he still had the skill.

* * *

Uchiha Obito was one of the strongest shinobi in the nation, even at only fourteen (though he was still too thickheaded to realize) he had faced some of the most terrifying opponents that would make lesser shinobi tremble. Holder of the Mangyeko Sharingan and had a world-changing plan entrusted by Uchiha Madara himself, Uchiha Obito was indeed a special case.

This was why Obito was wondering why the hell he was being beaten back by an old woman who proceeded to shuffle back to her stall, broom still clutched in her gnarled fingers. "Teach young'uns to try barter with me," she huffed (were the elderly only nice in Konoha? What was wrong with this lady? Obito wondered).

A strong hand shoved Obito aside and his silver-haired partner walked forward. Obito wore a cloak over his battered clothes, short-cut (at Kakashi's insistence) hair blowing in the wind. For revenge over the hair, Obito had demanded Kakashi remove his mask when they entered the village (as if Obito's half scarred face wasn't attention-seeking enough).

"I apologize ma'am, my friend is a bit . . . rowdy," Kakashi smiled with a grin that would make a lesser shinobi flee. However the old woman was not a shinobi and saw no harm in the almost wolf-like grin.

"R-rowdy, I'd say!" The stall-keeper agreed, flustered.

"Ah, what was he trying to buy?" Kakashi gave a convincing grin, tiny mole by his mouth moving with it. After the old woman's hesitation he placed down a sack of coins.

Her beady eyes automatically drifted to the pouch. "Um . . . I'd say this would cover it." She reluctantly handed over a wicker bag filled with fresh green cabbage, snatching the coins before Kakashi could stop her.

"They're for . . . GuruGuru. . ." Obito grumbled from his defeated position on the ground.

"Whatever," Kakashi rolled his eye, "Thank you." He called over Obito's protesting voice as he dragged Obito to a different stall.

The dazed old woman watched the pair walk off to a weapons stall. She squinted at the silver-haired teenager suspiciously. As she watched him try out a short blade, slashing it around expertly to test it, she came to her own conclusion. The darkness that had settled in her erupted into anger.

"It's him!" She screeched, pointing at the pair. "That's the man who did it! He—he _killed my grandson_!"

"Mother. . ." A concerned young woman with light brown hair comforted the old woman gently. "It's probably not them."

A fellow villager from a separate stall selling cloths rushed towards her. "Hirako-san! Can't you see that they aren't? It was only one person according to the accounts."

"_Account_." Hirako spat, "Only one person survived that bloody attack. They're shinobi! Trained killers—we're lucky that Hiro even survived. Had a giant gash in his abdomen and splinters all over."

The pair stared at her with wide eyes (eye in the silver-haired boy's case). "W-what's she talking about Kakashi?" The black haired boy who had attempted to barter asked uncertainly.

"I'm not sure, Obito. . ." Kakashi spoke softly. "Get ready to run if they attack," he whispered.

"They'll think we're cowards or guilty if we run!" Obito protesting, fingers brushing against a concealed kunai.

Kakashi sighed, "And do you think attacking will do much better? Let's just try. . . ." His voice trailed off as one of the villagers approached them. His solemn face matched the wailing sobs in the background of the woman.

"I think its best you get out of here," He spoke strongly, confident inside his own village, "And leave your goods."

"Okay, Obito—" Kakashi gestured to Obito and irritation bubbled at the determined expression Obito was making. "We don't want trouble." He hissed.

"That's not fair!" The Uchiha shouted, "We're innocent—and we even payed for the stuff! At least reimburse us!" He yelled the last part. The circle of villagers stepped back fearfully.

"S-sharingan!" One of the men yelped and murmurs rose around the pair. _Great job Obito_, Kakashi mentally scowled. Though Obito wasn't casting any genjutsu, the blood red eyes shone angrily, three tomoe spinning rapidly.

"W-wait, we're not trying to hurt you," Kakashi started, stopping abruptly when a little girl started crying when he stepped forward. He froze, staring at the girl's face. Purple tattoos marked her cheeks. Large brown eyes fearfully looked into Kakashi's black one. Kakashi liked to think of it as a coincidence, but that didn't stop his heart from breaking all over again.

"St-tay away from me!" She scrambled away from him to the where her mother sat with the stall-owner. "Y-you killed my b-brother!"

"I'm sorry," Kakashi whispered, tears unconsciously wetting his cheeks. Beside the little girl he could faintly see a taller girl, a young teenager, sitting next to her. Purple tattoos also marked her cheeks and she grinned at him.

_Rin_.

"You _baka_, Kakashi."

Kakashi viewed her in shock. _R-Rin? But—_

"I'm dead?" At Kakashi's mute nod, Rin giggled. Kakashi's eye unconsciously closed, focusing on absorbing the sparkling noise he hadn't heard in forever.

"Well maybe I am," Rin shrugged leaning onto Kakashi's sitting form. "Eh—you've gotten bigger Kakashi! You're still a stick though," She pinched his cheek, and for once, Kakashi didn't protest.

He was still in doubt. _What's going on—Obito and I were. . . ._

"Oh, _those _guys. You'll see," Rin winked. Kakashi stared at her, had she always been this free? Or perhaps he had just never cared before to notice. The little girl's crying face flashed before Kakashi's eyes.

_Rin. . . . Were you ever . . . afraid of me?_

Rin frowned in thought, "Afraid _of _you? Not really." She smiled nostalgically. "I was mostly just worried _for _you. Always throwing yourself into danger so recklessly—and Obito wasn't much better." After hesitating, she put a big smile on her face, "So Kakashi—you better stay alive so I can keep worrying for you! Don't worry I can wait for you."

_Wait, Rin what do you mean?_

"Kakashi—baka, I'm telling you to get off your butt and fight."

_What?_

"Obito is going to need you very soon. I know you guys have gotten along without me for a while, but Obito's views have. . . ."

"I'll take care of him—no more of my comrades will die!" Kakashi replied resolutely. "Don't worry."

Rin gave a sad smile, "Is that a promise?"

"Of course!"

"Don't break your promises." Rin grimaced, "Just remember. . . . Try to look at the bigger picture. Not all battles are best fought head on."

_Wha—Rin! Don't leave me!_

Kakashi screamed in his head once more, but his voice was gone. The headband faded from his head and the sharingan stared in shock at Rin, morphing into its mangyeko form. A moment later and Rin walked away into the white background, until the darkness at the fringes of his sight enveloped the world. The last thing he saw as he fell back into the darkness was a red moon.

* * *

"Kakashi!" Obito called from the inside of the cell. He was getting worried—the silver-haired teen had been knocked out for nearly ten hours. And periodically the whole time, Kakashi had been mumbling one word, one _name_, over and over again: Rin.

"Mmh. . . ." Kakashi muttered from the hard floor he was resting on.

Obito nearly shouted with relief. He could've easily overpowered the villagers and escaped, but after Kakashi suddenly (Obito would seriously have to question if lying face-down in bloody pond water for an hour or so had negatively affected his teammate's health) collapsing and Obito also catching glance of the little girl with purple tattoos, he hadn't had the strength to just mercilessly kill them. There were families there and—Obito guiltily admitted—the woman's son had probably been one of the Kirigakure shinobi he had blindly slaughtered after Rin's death. With Obito unwilling to take violent actions yet, he and Kakashi had been thrown into a weak metal cage (probably the best thing the poor village could produce under sudden notice).

When Kakashi had recovered, they could easily escape, Obito thought.

"Obito." Kakashi muttered.

The Uchiha scrambled over to his friend (which was really only a foot or so away in the cramped cage), "How are you feeling?"

"That's—n-not important," Kakashi coughed, "This is just a side-effect from that . . . sharingan. However—there's something," He paused to catch his breath, "You're not telling me."

Obito froze. All thoughts of escape fled from his thoughts.

And in both of their minds, a red moon floated serenely.

* * *

**Sorry for the late update guys!**

**Also, this story has a _crazy _amount of follows and favorites so thank you guys all! It makes me so happy to read that email notification!**

**Beta offer for this story is still open~**

**Side note: Just to make it clear, Rin appearing was a figment of Kakashi's imagination and not a sort of genjustu someone else cast on him. This is similar to how those who have PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) may have flashbacks or uncontrollable thoughts about said event. (Disclaimer about that- I am _not _an expert on PTSD, and don't pretend to, but I feel it is a disorder Kakashi (and several other shinobi, considering their career) could have developed after killing Rin, which could explain what happened realistically wise in this chapter. I do not mean to make those who do have PTSD feel insulted)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-sumei1**


	6. 4: Hopping

**Chapter 4**

"It's called the Eye of the Moon plan," Obito finished after a good hour of talking.

"What do you _mean_—that's just, but—" Kakashi's head hurt. He couldn't imagine, nor wrap his head around what the Uchiha was trying to calmly inform him of (though knowing Obito, the result was far from calm). "An _eternal dream_?"

Obito scratched his head, hastily fishing words from his mind that would cause the least damage. "Uh, pretty much—it's for the good of the world!"

"But what of our free wills and the ability to choose for ourselves?" Kakashi argued.

The Uchiha felt frustration bubble up inside him at Kakashi's stubborn response. He had _saved _Kakashi, over and over again, he gave him the sharingan, he could have _left _Kakashi for Konoha when Rin had died, but instead he hadn't. Perhaps some of it had been because of Obito's own selfish needs, but all the while, Kakashi had benefited from it too—yet _this_ was how he reacted? Obito was letting Kakashi hop along for the ride and glory—_could he not see that Rin's death had been Konoha's fault? _

Frustration boiled to fury, and Obito felt the sharingan develop unbidden. Had the village not supplied Kakashi's team with more shinobi, Rin wouldn't have died! They wouldn't have been overwhelmed by Kiri-nin (who Obito had saved the silver-haired teen from) and Rin would've been safe and sound. Why couldn't Kakashi _understand_?

"Why can't you see? If Konoha hadn't been so neglecting, Rin wouldn't be dead!" Obito snapped out, fingers quivering as his mind drifted back to the bloody marsh, where he had painstakingly buried Rin with all the care he could muster at the time.

Kakashi visibly stiffened, "But . . . Minato-sensei. . . ."

Obito's chest ached at the thought blond jounin. "No," he rasped, "his fault even more so! Minato should've at least used his political weight to make sure it was a proper three-man team. If he really cared about preserving our team he would've acted more. He's a jounin—he knows these things, especially since the war just ended."

Kakashi hated Obito's words and the implications it sent through his being. But at the same time, reason pulled at the prodigy's mind. The small throb of doubt in his thoughts swelled. While the silver-haired teen certainly couldn't say Minato hadn't cared—he too had been at Obito's rather desolate funeral, nails biting into his palms, as he had refused to follow Rin and Minato-sensei's teary-eyed example—he knew that Minato certainly could've done more to ensure proper safety measures (as safe as you could get in a war-ravaged country-side).

"Please, Kakashi," Obito pleaded, "This world of dreams, Rin doesn't _have _to be dead! There doesn't have to be war, or poverty, or famine, or disease! It's peaceful there, _warm_—safe."

The words rang sharp to Kakashi—_safe_. When was the last time he had felt that way? His mind flashed to a snowed-in winter day in Konoha, celebrating Christmas over mugs of steaming hot chocolate (Rin and Obito anxiously glancing at Kakashi whenever he made to pull down his mask to take a sip). That had been a long time ago.

"But . . ." Kakashi's mind noted Obito's phrasing. "Have you _been _there?"

"Only a proto-type," Obito explained, "I can show you . . .?" He dipped his head for permission.

Curious despite himself, Kakashi hesitantly agreed.

"Kakashi, you've got to believe me. The world needs this," Obito assured him, sharingan already spinning.

"I'll draw my own conclusions," Kakashi replied coldly and Obito quietly accepted his teammate's snappish remark.

Kakashi's vision faded to white.

* * *

Rin smiled gently at the silver-haired teenager. Despite being older than Rin now, Kakashi felt intimidated by the petite, purple-cheeked girl.

"Ne, Kakashi, what have you been doing?" Rin asked in a way that was perfectly Rin-like, yet the small voice in Kakashi's head whispering 'genjutsu' kept muddling her clear voice. She sat in a swing and pushed off the ground gently.

"No," Kakashi took a step back, mind rejecting the illusion. His hands shook violently and the sharingan in his head ached. "No." He repeated, tearing off his headband anxiously feeling the eye underneath. "It's not real."

Rin stood up and kneeled beside Kakashi, flat brown eyes staring into his mismatched ones. "What are you talking about Kakashi? Didn't you keep saying in your dreams you wanted to meet with me?"

"Shut up," Kakashi whispered, palms pressed upon his ears. Rin referred to his nightmares, which were hardly ever dreamlike. They consisted of an animated corpse that resembled Rin just enough to send shivers down his spine. "I didn't want to meet you like this."

"I'm not fake Kakashi." She pried off his hand with surprising strength, "And I know you killed me," she hissed into his ear. Soon the genjutsu warped from the peaceful meadow to the place that haunted Kakashi's nightmares: the moon-lit swamp of that night. Before the dreamscape had always been that secluded area on the fringes of Kusagakure, where the cavern of Obito's demise had been. But after Rin it was only the swamp. Always the swamp and its bloody waters.

His eyes betrayed him as they glanced to Rin's chest, looking at the gaping hole dripping black with horror.

"No!" Kakashi felt his back and wrapped his fingers around the familiar weight of his father's tanto (his reasoning ignored that it had been shattered on that faithful day). "You're not real!" His voice cracked as the tanto cut a blinding line of white through the land, cutting Rin into half. Blood oozed.

"And now you have killed me twice!" Rin seemed almost delighted by her death, furthering Kakashi's conclusion that she wasn't the _real _Rin.

"You're not real—this world isn't real—" It _couldn't _be, for the sake of Kakashi's sanity.

The genjutsu shattered.

* * *

Obito shook at Kakashi. When he had warned that it was a proto-type, he hadn't realized it would've affected him _this _way. Perhaps it had been because Kakashi owned a sharingan that wasn't his own—Obito's brow furrowed. "Kakashi!?"

"—s not real!" Kakashi gasped, panic shining in his grey eye. Sweat soaked his hair.

Obito quickly waved off GuruGuru, who had been prepared to dump a bag of decaying guts upon Kakashi from his store (the zetsu's way of showing his care, believing that perhaps a good scare could wake the unconscious chunin).

"Kakashi—what's not real?" Obito clasped his dirt-covered hands on the sides of his teammate's head. He forced Kakashi to look at him, "_Kakashi_."

Obito felt a throb behind Madara's sharingan, the one he had used to cast the genjutsu upon Kakashi. Clearly it had taken a toll, and in the end, the Tsukuyomi hadn't even worked properly.

"Rin's not . . . she's not—I didn't—_Rin's dead_," Kakashi gasped aloud, tears streaming from a bloodshot grey eye.

"Kakashi, just . . . just rest, okay?" Obito spoke with gentle strictness, like how he would scold Shisui for sneaking outside when he had lived inside the Uchiha compound (his chest ached at the thought of his younger cousin).

Fluffing up the mattresses (not that there was much to work with), Obito led the shaken-up Hatake to the makeshift bed. Mutters of _Rin _escaped him and Obito flinched. He felt the burning anger that seethed inside him roar louder. _This _is what happened when Konoha didn't help. His family got hurt. Vengeance would be wrought, Obito fiercely decided, staring at Kakashi's still form. And he would protect his remaining family.

Kakashi's head was pounding and a groan slipped between his lips as he tried to sit up. He noticed his mask was also in place and he silently thanked Obito for having the courtesy to buy new ones—it hid the pallid appearance of his face.

"You're up, are you okay?" Obito asked uncertainly, peering at Kakashi intently.

Rubbing his eye, Kakashi nodded, "I'm . . . fine." Switching the topic in a stubborn, Kakashi-like fashion, he stared at Obito, "Who did you even get that other sharingan from?" After all, it wasn't his original (Kakashi would know, in was in his head, after all).

"Oh, you know that guy I told you about?" Obito looked almost sheepish "Well, his name is Uchiha Madara—he's the real one behind the Eye of the Moon plan."

Kakashi groaned—just _how _had the 'dead-last Uchiha' ended up meeting the ancient ancestor of the Uchiha and former founder of Konoha? "Tell me the plan again." He muttered.

Despite his shaky appearance, the Uchiha noted that Kakashi's opinion was wavering and happily complied.

* * *

"That's why I want to make it our reality," Obito finished. "I . . . I don't want anyone else to suffer like we did with Rin!"

Kakashi gained a strange look in his eye. _Perhaps. . . I feel I'm starting to understand why you did what you did . . . _Kakashi stared at Obito, the one who had brought around the start of a realization, all those months ago at Kannabi Bridge. _Father. . . . _Suddenly the decisions Hatake Sakumo had made and the rationale behind them no longer seemed as alien as they did to an eight-year old Kakashi.

_He wanted to protect me, just as I want to protect my family. _

"The one thing," Kakashi spoke aloud, "that I don't understand, is why Madara wishes to be reborn. Surely he'd just want to be dead now after centuries of living down here. What does he want out of this dream world?" _Look underneath the underneath, Kakashi_, an echo of his father's voice reminded him.

Obito scowled, "What do you mean?"

"If he truly had his best intentions for shinobi and to cease fighting and lock us all in a dream world, wouldn't he just be satisfied with letting us do that? _Why should he be revived?_" Kakashi repeated, grey eye narrowed. Through the ache in his head, his mind whirled through possibilities. He had read through his father's study before, where there had been mentions of a valley where the first Hokage and Uchiha Madara had fought to the death, Madara being the apparent loser, yet Obito had managed to meet him. And usually, when you were the first Hoakge, you were thorough in your job.

And despite not coming to the conclusion himself, by no means was Obito the idiot dead-last of his childhood. Through the mourning of Rin, he hadn't stopped to think of Madara's request (to be honest, the most he had really heard through the mess of thoughts and emotions was _Rin could come back in the Infinite Tsukuyomi_). Rage made his blood boil and as his sharingan activated, Obito felt the irrational urge to rip out the pulsing left eye.

"He _lied _to me!" A sour, bitter taste swelled within Obito, and through the anger that fogged through his mind, the Uchiha realized it was betrayal. Madara: the kind, sometimes stoic, old man had downright _lied_ (as a shinobi, Obito really should've been used to it by now—but he wasn't—it still hurt). "What was he trying to do? Take over the world while we're sleeping? Stupid bastard—like heck I'm reviving him!" Obito shouted.

"_How dare he use Rin's death like that!"_

* * *

Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows Zetsu sank into the ground, Venus flytrap-like extensions moving gently in an unseen wind.

"How _fascinating _humans are," White Zetsu whispered to his other half, robotic-like voice making purring noise.

Black Zetsu gave a grunt, "I suppose it's time to set phase two in motion?"

"Fantastic!" White Zetsu exclaimed.

* * *

Shimura Danzo sat in his room, quietly pondering the thoughts that had drifted to his mind the night previous. Solidifying his decision, Danzo nodded to himself and signaled to the Root members that surrounded his room. Three materialized in front of him, making customary gestures of silent respect.

"Get three corpses. They should be fairly fresh—disguise them as Ame shinobi. We'll be heading out tomorrow for Amegakure. It's about time we give Hanzo a talk," Danzo sipped his tea as the ANBU dispersed.

"Hiruzen has been Hokage unrightfully for too long," he gazed into the shadows created by the flickering light of a candle on his bedside on the rice paper walls.

* * *

"Kakashi, wake up!" Obito called to the sleeping silver-haired shinobi.

Kakashi ignored him. "Come _on_—GuruGuru said there's something going on at Ame."

At that, Kakashi blinking his lazy eyes open. "Oh?"

"Yeah, says we could probably use them to hurry along the plan," Obito shrugged himself into a black coat.

After the revelations of just a month ago, Kakashi and Obito had decided to continue on with their pursuits of peace with the Infinite Tsukuyomi, sans one Uchiha Madara ("It's a good plan, let's just toss out the old man," Obito had said, with a surprising amount of aloofness, considering his previous bout of anger).

"M'kay, let's go," Kakashi spoke with deceptive drowsiness, already in his gear.

Obito grinned at the teammate who had become so much more in the past months. "Next stop: Amegakure! I've always wanted to go there!"

* * *

Hidden in the land of seeming never-ending rain, two orphans kneel around a table where three once sat.

* * *

**A/N: Things are picking up~**

**Thank you all for supporting this tiny little fic!**

**From this point on, we're stepping into pre-Naruto, yet slightly shaded on topics, so I'll be using Narutopedia to the best of my ability to interpret events as I see (as you can already see, there have already been effects from one silver-haired nin tagging along). As such, feel free to leave a note if I've failed to acknowledge something.**

**And with that, DFTBA**

**-Sumei1 **


	7. 5: Running

**Chapter 5**

Uzumaki Nagato wanted to hide behind his veil of red hair—wanted to bury himself in a cocoon of warmth under the ground and never wake up. There was a thickness in his throat and he coughed. He hated public speaking. The twenty-so men and women stood quietly in front of him in black cloaks as they waited for him to gather himself.

Nagato cursed himself—he had to be strong, he had promised Yahiko to protect Konan and Amegakure. His shadowed rinnegan glanced to the cyan-haired girl who stood faithfully behind him. Konan would never leave him, out of respect to Yahiko, him, and the Akatsuki. He was doing this for her, if not himself.

"We have lost a good man," Nagato spoke up awkwardly, unused to talking in front of the group—that had always been Yahiko. There were soft murmurs amongst the gathered members. They had all seen Nagato go berserk after Yahiko's sacrifice and none were willing to make comments. "But the Akatsuki is not over." Becoming more sure of his plans, Nagato continued in a louder voice, "We will strike down Hanzo of the Salamander and bring peace to Amegakure!"

There were protests, louder this time.

"Forcefulness has never been our way!" A rugged-looking villager stepped out from the crowd. He scowled at his fellows, "We have always used peace! I wish for this country to change, but only if it should be peacefully and without harm to others!"

Remembering that day, fury at Hanzo bubbled through Nagato, "But do you not see by Yahiko's death? There will always be those who oppose us violently. The only thing we can do to ensure peace is through violence, humanity will never willingly come to that."

"Then this is no _peace_ I want part in!" The man unbuckled and slung off his black Akatsuki cloak. It dropped to the ground in a thump and he stormed outside into the rain, followed by five others.

Nagato sighed at the never-ending rain, "Those," He said softly, the others straining to hear him, "Are the people who are not willing to sacrifice for our group. Will you join them?" Nagato had never fancied himself a particularly inspiring person, but he saw heads nodding and calls rising in volume.

"Never! We will fight! For a free, prosperous Amegakure!" they shouted, any sliver of doubt on their faces wiped away.

Nagato gave a small smile, "Good, dismissed." He rubbed at the bags from under his eyes.

Konan gave his cold hand a reassuring squeeze. "Come on, I think Madara had come to visit, I sense his chakra nearby."

"That crazy masked guy?" Nagato asked rhetorically. Ever since the first encounter with him, Nagato had been thrown off by the man, but there was an aura of trust Nagato sensed from him at the same time. Perhaps it was because Madara, however very likely he wasn't really who he said he was, reminded Nagato of Yahiko.

"Ah, darn, sorry, I didn't mean to step on you—hey be more sympathetic—this mask kills my depth perception! Oh don't give me _that _look—"

Nagato and Konan stumbled upon a scene they hadn't really wanted to see: Uchiha Madara untangling wisps of grey hair from his mask with gloved hands. The source of the silvery strands of hair was another cloth-masked teenager who irritably sat in black robes to the side, combing through his hair furiously.

"It's your own fault," His voice was surprisingly child-like for his apparent age, but, Nagato reasoned, perhaps it was just the mask that made him look older.

"Uchiha Madara?" Nagato asked dryly.

"Um," The masked man coughed into his, "Yes, that's . . . me."

"Apologies for our appearances right now," The silver haired teen dipped his head slightly. "This is not what we're here about—I assume our deal still stands?"

". . . yes," Nagato nodded, an icy sense of calm spreading through him. He knew what was demanded of him—immobilizing himself with the Demonic Statue and finally relinquishing the Akatsuki to Madara. This was excluding his use of the Six Paths of Pain, a new puppet jutsu he was developing. Even now Konan and Nagato were experimenting with Yahiko's corpse in hopes of reanimating it (anything to see his friend's smile again).

"This plan relies upon you," Uchiha Madara continued without pause, "We assume you understand how to use the Six-Paths?"

"I know," Nagato nodded again, hand seeking Konan's for support. _For Yahiko_, he reminded himself.

The silver haired companion frowned through his mask, "What are you planning to do with the other Akatsuki members? They are expecting to storm Amegakure."

The Uzumaki exhaled slowly—in all honesty, he hadn't had the heart to just kick out the other members. They had had so much faith in him—_no_, in Yahiko. Nagato too had held such belief before Hanzo had come and destroyed it all.

"You know there's no room for them in this plan. And if you do not remove them from the situation, we will." His voice was hard.

"I understand." Nagato replied with an equal measure of coldness. "Is that all you've come for?" _Petty warnings and threats?_

"I think so . . ." Madara glanced to his partner. "That's it, right?"

The silver-haired teen shrugged, "Whatever."

"Okay then! See you guys later—we'll check in after we locate the first new member!" Madara waved his hand as the air in front of him distorted and swirled. A miniature whirlwind appeared and sucked the pair in, until the room was silent and the air undisturbed as before.

Nagato stared at where they had been for a moment then looked to Konan. "I do hope we're not going to regret this," He said softly.

Konan sighed, "I don't know. . . I wish . . ."

_I wish Yahiko was here._

"I do too," Nagato finally walked to the doorway. "We'll have to call another meeting."

The red-head really did hate public speaking, but the thought of what Madara and his partner would do was far worse.

* * *

Obito folded up their robes and stored them away. Since Kakashi was napping away the whiplash of using Kamui as a non-Uchiha, it left Obito to do the house (cave?) chores. He stored away the orange mask with the others—out of all the face-masks he had bought at the local village, he liked the swirling orange mask by far the most.

As he thought of Nagato and Konan, Obito felt a slight twinge of guilt inside him for using them. Especially Kakashi's rather unnecessary threat of slaughtering the other Akatsuki (which neither of them really had the heart to actually do) and Zetsu explaining what tragedy had happened to Konan and Nagato.

In the end, the pair wasn't that unlike Kakashi and him. Both wished for peace, their methods were just different. But from what Obito had seen, the grieving Nagato had been on the verge of using violence anyways, now it was just up to Obito and Kakashi to help steer that rinnegan-powered energy for their plans.

After all, if all ended well, the Eye of the Moon plan was fairly peaceful and Obito _knew_ it would help everyone. Obito felt a stab of rage at Madara—the real one—for lying to him. At that thought, Obito cracked a grin: the old man was probably rolling in his grave over Obito's change of plans.

While Zetsu and GuruGuru had given Obito some ideas on how to use the Akatsuki to obtain the nine bijuu, Obito had been, naturally, the one to smooth out the details of outfits and 'exotically' get S-ranked criminals from all over to join ("It'll be just like a party!" Obito had exclaimed to Kakashi's disbelieving expression).

Obito read over the manuscripts a second time that Zetsu had gathered for him. A green-eyed man glared back at him, tan face mostly hidden by a tan-and-black facial mask. _Him and Kakashi'll get together well_, Obito thought.

There was a groaning noise from the corner. _Speak of the devil_, Obit reconsidered, _or . . . well, think of the devil I guess._

"Yo Kakashi, you up?" Obito shouted loudly.

There was louder groaning, "_Now _I am," The silver-haired teen growled. He rubbed his eyes and tied on a headband over his sharingan. "Morning," He nodded to GuruGuru and Zetsu who lingered in the shadows of the cave.

"What are you looking at?" Kakashi padded over, light as a cat.

Obito's mind somehow found it highly amusing to compare Kakashi to a cat. Obito stifled laughter—_I've definitely been missing too much sleep. _The Uchiha gave a dignified cough and shoved a newspaper article to Kakashi.

"So this is a possible candidate Zetsu recommended. Apparently this dude can't die or whatever—seems like a good way to start off, y'know?" Obito shrugged, "And if he gets out of hand I'm sure between the two of us we can Kamui him into the other-dimension."

Kakashi gave an exasperated sigh, "Obito, you know I can only do it about three times before passing out. Best not rely upon my Kamui as a last minute plan." If it were anyone but Kakashi, Obito would've thought there was jealousy tinging his voice.

"Anyways, what else is on him?" The Hatake continued in a business-like manner.

"Well, you know how the press is like—overly under-informed and filled with rumors," Obito ran his fingers through his dusty black hair. "In other words, I have no clue."

"Ah. I say we recruit this guy and a few others, wait a while, and see the results." Kakashi finally suggested after a pause of silence.

Obito frowned, "Nagato won't like that." Nagato would probably be expecting to see a fully fleshed-out version of the new Akatsuki at once, but having a massive group of renowned killers all at once didn't exactly appeal to Obito either. He wasn't _that _overconfident about his abilities.

"Well he doesn't need to like it." After exhaling slowly, Kakashi looked at Obito with a troubled expression. "Obito . . . with all this planning and elaborate things . . . . Do you ever just miss those relaxed days in Konoha? Even though we only lived in war time, do you ever just . . . wish we could go back?"

_That was rather unexpected_. The words slipped from Obito's thoughts to his mouth unbidden.

Kakashi averted his gaze, "Never-mind. That was a ridiculous thought. I was just thinking, perhaps we could gain assistance from Konoha if we explained the situation—"

Obito mentally cringed, "No. We . . . I can't return to Konoha." Obito tried to ignore the hurt look on Kakashi's face. They couldn't go back to that old argument. _We were doing so well, why can't we just focus on the Akatsuki and the Eye of the Moon plan? _Obito childishly complained to himself.

"Why not!?" Kakashi stood upon, agitated.

"You _know _why!" Obito's voice raised.

Kakashi's lone grey eye widened, "It wasn't _his _fault Obito!" He glared at the Uchiha, "If you can't see that—I—I'm sick of this. It wasn't his fault Obito!" Obito felt taken aback by the Hatake's raised voice.

"Wait, what—Kakashi _no_!" Obito made to stand up but Kakashi was already pulling on his coat and heading out. _Regret_. Obito knew he just had to say 'sorry' and Kakashi would most likely turn back. But pride—he couldn't. Obito felt hollowness in his chest. His only friend was leaving him and Obito was letting him. His last friend.

_He'll come back_, Obito reassured himself. Over the months, he and Obito had had numerous arguments—it was inevitable with their clashing personas. But they were getting better and they always came back to the cave. Their friendship was all they had.

Obito clung to this hope, waiting.

He fell dozed off a few times, but he always awoke to the empty, empty cold cavern.

Soon the sun dipped below the mountains, dark amber light filling the cave through cracks in the jagged ceiling. An icy feeling of realization struck Obito: Kakashi wasn't returning.

Not yet at least—he was heading to Konoha.

Despair clawed at Obito and he buried his head between his knees. He refused to cry. Obito willed numbness and sleep to come as Zetsu and GuruGuru watched from the shadows.

* * *

Zetsu felt a smug smile stretch impossibly far across this face. Gone now was the interference that had messed with Madara's plans. But Obito's initial mindset was still salvageable. Uchiha Madara would walk through the lands once more, if Zetsu had anything to say about it.

* * *

Namikaze Minato, newly elected fourth Hokage, was no longer wearing the smiles and cheer of his inauguration ceremony. Now there was merely a grim shadow of it as he gazed upon the trio of graves that lay in front of him, engraved names staring accusingly at him. After shaking so many hands over the day, his hand felt numb now as it placed flowers upon them.

_Uchiha Obito_—gone to young, killed by falling rocks in a mission that helped close up the Third Shinobi World War. Minato cleaned off the plaque gently as his chest ached in memory of the eager, bright and chronically-late Uchiha.

_Nohara Rin_—found dead in a marsh, surrounded by slaughtered Kirigakure shinobi, impaled in the chest with flames of some sort. The wound had been perfectly cauterized, yet the teenaged medic still hadn't survived the fatal wounds. The blond longed for the days of Rin gently scolding the boys as she healed them, constantly a source of concern and care.

And finally, _Hatake Kakashi_—gone, never found again after a team mission with Rin, the very one she died on. Officially proclaimed dead, Minato silently hoped his grouchy, silver-haired student survived. He owed Sakumo that at least.

Even though Minato was perfectly capable, the Sandaime had never paired Minato up with a new genin team, and the Hokage personally thought he would never be able to bear having another team for a long while. He traced over the three names again. _Guilt. Regret. _

What if?

What if he had stayed with his genin team at Kannabi Bridge?

What if he had refused to let Kakashi and Rin take that mission?

What if he had just been a little more responsible?

Some of the other jounin and villagers had muttered he was too young—had gotten power far too soon. When Minato looked upon those three graves, two of which had no bodies, he couldn't agree more.

Not even the joys of the redhead in his life could ease the sharp pain of regret in his chest.

There was a rustle of grass behind him. Minato clutched a specially-created kunai in his palm, ready to use his flying thunder god jutsu at a moment's notice.

"Who are you?" Minato asked softly, tensing himself up.

There was a low laugh, "You haven't changed."

_That voice_, Minato's heart leapt into his throat—he didn't trust himself to speak.

"You haven't changed a bit, Minato-sensei," Hatake Kakashi spoke softly.

* * *

**A/N: Wow, it's been a long time guys! And a kinda(ish) long chapter too! *pats self on back***

**Just in time for the holidays (or whatever you celebrate or don't celebrate . . . in which case this is kind of just an update I guess) too- I'm impressed, I've actually kept up with a personal deadline.**

**Anyways, lot's of stuff going on!**

**And if I were to split this up into arcs (because that's what cool people do) this would be the end of the introductory arc.**

**Either way, I've been getting plenty of lovely email notifications, so thank you all and I hope you've enjoyed this story~**

**-Sumei1**

**(By the way, I've wondered if anyone's noticed my chapter titles? I've tried to make them somewhat accurate to the chapter's plot. Is it artistic to anyone? No? Eh.)**


	8. 6: Jumping

**Chapter 6**

In his lifetime, Namikaze Minato had had his own share of shocks, surprises, and heart-attack-like sensations. Like when he'd heard when Jiraiya had spontaneously entered him in the jounin exams because of a drunken bet with Tsunade, or when he'd teleported back to the rock fall and had dug like the world was ending to find his student's body that, in the end, was never found. These heart-wrenching pains were commonplace in a shinobi's life—so why did his chest ache as he looked at his last student, miraculously alive?

Of all the questions that escaped Minato's lips as he ran forward and gripped his lanky silver-haired student in a firm hug, "you've grown?" was surprisingly the first. The blond felt an unfamiliar, bubbling sensation spread throughout him, a rusty laugh sounding. Kakashi looked indignant at the inquiry, the Hatake ever sensitive about his below average height.

"Why does that sound so doubtful? I can grow _too_." Kakashi complained, rolling his eyes.

If not for Kakashi's different clothes, Minato could've convinced himself that the world had restored itself to normal—it was simply a late practice and Rin was yet to arrive, then they would all wait for Obito, Kakashi making a sarcastic comment every few minutes. Then Obito would run up the dirt pathway, ruffled and sweating, yelling about the elderly population of Konoha or a stray cat that had beckoned to him, while Kakashi chided his Uchiha teammate briskly. Then Rin would try to mellow the two boys and, unheard over their arguing, Minato would then step in with a smile and hair ruffle or two. Things would be normal.

Minato noticed Kakashi quietly bending down to brush his fingertips over the trio of graves, pausing at his own, unreadable expression on his face.

Things would _never_ be able to go back to 'normal', Minato realized. Kakashi was _different_—not just on the outside.

He was certain it _was _Kakashi—the chakra signal was the same, the teenager's habit of shoving his hands in his pockets when bored was the same. But there were differences that made it seem as if Minato was talking with an entirely different person—Kakashi actually looked at Minato when talking, drinking in the man's appearances as if he'd disappear in a moment's notice. Before he'd always be looking around, anywhere _but_ Minato, constantly vigilant. Now, despite a new aura of _roughness_ about Kakashi, he almost seemed more relaxed—_stronger_.

"Let's walk around, Spring's just around the corner and you've been absent for a while. Come with me—let's see what's changed," Minato offered, unspoken questions lingering in the air. _Where have you been all this time? What changed? What _happened_ to Rin?_

The teen shrugged and followed the Hokage.

As the pair entered the market area of Konoha, dedicated to villagers' stalls and goods, Kakashi paused at a booth which held assorted fruits and greens. The civilian shop keeper looked disturbed by the stone cold expression on Kakashi's face. Minato nearly dragged his student away, when the jounin leaped away from the booth and bolted, dropping a basket of plump strawberries. Minato's frowned at the glistening, red fruit and followed his student.

He found Kakashi at the entrance of an obscure alleyway, retching the meager contents of his stomach onto the earthen road.

Alarmed, Minato stepped forward supporting his wobbly student. The silver-haired teenager was breathing in gasping puffs, single grey eye wide.

"Kakashi, what's wrong!?" The Yondaime demanded, concern and worry churning in his gut.

"She—she liked," Kakashi shook, "she liked strawberries."

Minato's cerulean eyes widened—he hadn't even realized Kakashi had known that. Or had bothered to remember. _Rin_. Minato's chest ached again.

* * *

Saying Uchiha Obito was a patient, benevolent teenager who rarely angry was an utter and total lie. That being said, just because he wasn't a saint, didn't mean he normally felt as if he was boiling inside and out. Obito felt the sticky dark liquid (unmistakably blood) soak into his sandals and felt sick. But the real blood-pressure raiser was _who_ had committed the massacre. This rage was comparable to when Rin had died. Obito stormed over to Zetsu—blood clearly crusted and dried on his dark green fronds, yellow gaze just as smug as ever.

Obito wanted to burn the plant creature to the ground.

"_I thought you were my friend._" Obito growled, voice bordering on inhumane, sharingan burning with fury, fueled by Obito's explosive emotions. "So _why_," he stepped forward, over a corpse, trying to ignore the looks of agony forever frozen on their faces. "_Why did you kill them all?_"

The original Akatsuki, all of the men and women who had so proudly marched behind the prior leader, were dead. Gone forever—just like his parents, just like Rin.

GuruGuru, his mysterious plant friend faithful throughout it all, had alerted Obito to the mutinous actions of Zetsu. Obito felt a new wave of anger growing—these plans that they (_he_, Obito corrected—Kakashi was gone now) had worked so hard on were thrown off balance just because of stupid, _stupid_ Zetsu. Who knew if Nagato would comply with Madara now?

The Uchiha glared at Zetsu, waiting for the creature to respond.

That bleached-white smile only grew and Zetsu's Venus flytrap-like fronds quivered. The deeper, hoarse voice Obito had come to recognize as the black side of Zetsu spoke first, "there was purpose for this. You refuse to take rational action, thus we decided to make a decision for you." Zetsu gestured at the pile of bodies, traces of mukton ninjutsu jutting out of them. Obito shivered at the lethality of this tentative ally.

"You see, this is why Lord Madara wanted himself to be revived," Zetsu spoke soothingly. "He knew only you could be trusted—not that foolish white-haired boy. The world will need monitoring once the Infinite Tsukuyomi activates and Lord Madara figured that you would want to see Rin so he'll take care of things while you play around."

Obito's fists clenched at Zetsu's calm and detached voice, unable to stand its indifference when talking of the momentous plan—after all, they were discussing world _domination_. He felt disgust curl up in his gut at the way the plant-like creature's almost _sneering_ tone when addressing Rin. The mere thought of seeing her again was the only remaining hope in his life and yet it spoke as if she was just another limb in GuruGuru's collection.

Taking a deep breath, Obito exhaled and deactivated his sharingan. Now wouldn't be a good time to lose it, _not again_. Zetsu had one thing right—Madara _had_ trusted him to get this job done. And Kakashi _had_ abandoned Obito—perhaps he hadn't intended to make it seem like that, but he had. Now the Uchiha was alone, _with_ Zetsu.

Obito scowled behind his Madara mask, "whatever, I'm sick of dealing with you. Go get that Kakoo guy, or whatever his name is, and bring him here. I'll talk with him later."

Zetsu bared its teeth in a weak imitation of a humane smile. All to plan.

"I'll catch you later, Obito."

* * *

**Huge A/N:**

**One word: Hiatus (possibly indefinite)**

**I'm super sorry guys. I know this is a cliff hanger and I've tried to stay interested in the fandom, but I just can't (currently going into theatre more). I'm pretty proud of this story and you all have been incredibly awesome in feedback and following/favoriting, thus I want y'all to realize that I've put a lot of thought into this decision. I was hesitant to do this, but I've been heading towards this for awhile and I want to stop before the writing get really bad. It _has_ been a pleasure to write Naruto fanfiction, but I just no longer find it thrilling. I started writing fanfiction on here (really bad HP fics at first) for my personal entertainment and to improve my writing, and I want to keep it that way. I apologize again for all those I've disappointing :( **

** I may return, but I doubt it will be for the Naruto fandom. **

**I'll be keeping this up for anyone who wants to read it and let me know if anyone wants to continue the fic (I'd love to see a continuation, even if I'm not interested in writing more).**

**Goodbye,**

**-sumei1**


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